Originally published in 1978, Armed Progressive: General Leonard Wood was immediately recognized as the standard biography of this most unusual officer, a tribute to the extensive research, excellent analysis, and fine writing displayed by Prof. Lane (emeritus, Rollins College)..

Armed Progressive covers Wood's early life, education as a physician, career as an army surgeon, and his service in the waning days of the Plains Indian Wars, during which he earned a Medal of Honor. It then discusses his transfer to the line, while continuing to practice medicine, his service with the "Rough Riders," and later as a brigade commander under fire in Cuba, where he carried his medical kit while directing the action. After a stint as military governor of a province, and later of all Cuba, he commanded in the Philippines, suppressing the last of the Moro uprisings, and served as chief-of-staff of the Army, 1910-1914. His tour in that post was acrimonious, as he struggled to help turn it into a real executive position, rather than a paper one, which led to conflicts with various influential department heads and their political allies. During World War I, Wood helped found the Preparedness Movement, and hoped to command a volunteer division to be raised by his "Rough Rider" buddy Theodore Roosevelt, but spent the war training troops. After the war he served as Governor of the Philippines, and made an unsuccessful attempt secure a nomination for president.

In a thoughtful and timely new preface, Prof. Lane, who also wrote the useful America's Military Past: A Guide to Information Sources, comments on what he would change if he were to undertake a complete revision of the work, noting that Wood's role in Cuba and the Philippines certainly merits more attention, a timely reminder that the Army has been in the "nation building" for a very long time..

An important work for anyone interested in the U.S. Army from the Indian Wars through World War I